‘Eagle’ Start in International in Doubt

Moyglare Stud Farm homebred and G1SW Free Eagle (Ire) (High Chaparral {Ire}) is increasingly likely to sidestep next week’s Juddmonte International at York Aug. 19 and wait for the G1 QIPCO Irish Champion S. at Leopardstown Sept. 12. Dermot Weld’s 4-year-old fought off The Grey Gatsby (Ire) (Mastercraftsman {Ire}) to make a winning start to his campaign in the G1 Prince of Wales’s S. at Royal Ascot and would add further intrigue to next Wednesday’s Group 1 feature if he were to line up alongside unbeaten G1 Derby hero Golden Horn (GB) (Cape Cross {Ire}) and dual G1 2000 Guineas winner Gleneagles (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}). However, the G1 Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe at Longchamp in October remains the primary objective for Free Eagle and connections are minded to give him just one run ahead of his trip to Paris.

Fiona Craig, breeding advisor for owners Moyglare Stud, said, “I think York is probably looking less likely. I’m not sure it’s settled in stone, but he’ll probably go straight to Leopardstown. He was very tired after he came home from Ascot. As everyone knows it was a bit of a rush to get him there anyway and he ran his heart out on the day. He worked on the racecourse at The Curragh on Monday morning as they’d had a bit of rain and it was beautiful ground.”

“We’d like to get to the Arc and we just think to run at York and then Leopardstown and then go to Longchamp would be a fair bit of racing in a short space of time,” continued Craig. “I think he’ll probably stay in the York race [Juddmonte International S. Aug. 19] at the five-day stage, just in case it cuts up and the likes of Golden Horn and Gleneagles come out, but at the moment it looks like we’ll wait for the autumn.”